Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law requires every electrical corporation to file with the commission a standard tariff for electricity purchased from an electric generation facility, as defined, that qualifies for the tariff, is owned and operated by a retail customer of the electrical corporation, and is located within the service territory of, and developed to sell electricity to, the electrical corporation. Existing law requires that, in order to qualify for the tariff, the electric generation facility: (1) have an effective capacity of not more than 3 megawatts, subject to the authority of the commission to reduce this megawatt limitation, (2) be interconnected and operate in parallel with the electric transmission and distribution grid, (3) be strategically located and interconnected to the electrical transmission and distribution grid in a manner that optimizes the deliverability of electricity generated at the facility to load centers, and (4) meet the definition of an eligible renewable energy resource under the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program. The commission refers to this requirement as the renewable feed-in tariff.

This bill would additionally authorize a conduit hydroelectric facility with an effective capacity of up to 4 megawatts to participate in the renewable feed-in tariff if the facility delivers no more than 3 megawatts to the grid at any time, was operational on January 1, 1990, and complies with specified interconnection and payment requirements.